Subjective... Being I'm an S3 owner, I will say my phone is the best because it fits MY needs. Are the other power units listed better, probably in their own right. Either way, you'll get the same arguments which are better that have been posted thru out this forum.

If you go by hardware, the S3 has been surpassed by many new phones that came out lately (Nexus 4, Optimus G, HTC J Butterfly, etc.). Feature-wise, though, it's still one of the leading smartphone as of yet, and it's only second to the Galaxy Note 2.

I'll say yes it is. The S3 is pretty decent step over the previous generation and actually available for a good portion of 2012. The devices that have specs that surpass them are at best incremental upgrades and have only just come available in the last month or so.

That said I probably would have gotten a Note 2 had it been available on my carrier 3 months ago but I quite happy with my S3.

Whoever stated it is "what the Galaxy Nexus should have been" is quite correct, IMO

Click to expand...

The differences are minimal to what the Nexus doesn't have compared to the S3. But what the Nexus HAS compared to what the S3 DOESN'T have is a little larger. You can look at what the devices shipped with and you can look at also what can be added via root.

SOFTWARE
Sooooo, when you look at software, the Nexus obviously is further ahead than the S3 due to the Nexus having 4.2.1 while the S3 is still on 4.1.2. With that also comes the largely updated 4.2 apps that the Nexus has; Camera w/ photosphere, Gallery, Gmail, Google Now, etc..... Not sure if the S3 has and can use Google Wallet or not but that's something I have actually been enjoying. I thought it would be dumb but I find it very convientent and I love the look on people's faces as if I'm a magician.

HARDWARE
Then there's hardware which the S3 DOES have an edge over the Nexus with. They both have the same Cortex A9 processor with the S3 being 200Mhz more. They both have the same amount of RAM at 1GB. They system chips differ though. The S3 has the Samsung Exynos 4 (4412) which has made news recently with the HUGE security issue while the Nexus has the TI OMAP4460. They both have SAmoled displays BUT the Nexus has 316ppi over the S3's 306ppi. Quite noticeable but maybe not to the unknowing user. They both have the same Camera with the S3 being 8mp over the Nexus's 5mp and they both record video in 1080p at 30fps.

DIFFERENCES
So, what should the Nexus have had the S3 has? Bigger camera? 200mhz more? Touchwiz..........I hear crickets at the thought of the Nexus having touchwiz. It makes me nauseous even thinking about it. The rest of Samsung's bloat? Sorry I'm reaching trying to find more that the S3 has. I can find more that the NEXUS has that the S3 NEEDS. So I think your statement "Whoever stated it is "what the Galaxy Nexus should have been" is quite correct, IMO" should be reversed. The S3 should have been an advanced version of what the Nexus is, being that the S3 came out 7 MONTHS AFTER the Nexus.

SO, the moral of the story is the S3 came out 7 MONTHS AFTER the Nexus and had very very very similar features with the Nexus having MORE being that it has the latest that Android has to offer. So i think it's safe to say that the S3 should have been MORE than what it is instead of saying the the Nexus should have been what the S3 is. Kind of a far fetched statement when EVERYTHING is laid out side by side isn't it?

This is simply a long drawn out reply to your comment with information that everyone already knows. In no way is this an argument nor am I trying to be an ass as that's not my intentions. I just wanted to point out that the differences are very minimal hardware wise with the S3 ahead and largely different software wise with the Nexus ahead.

I love both phones as they are BOTH ground breaking phones. The Nexus has obviously stood the test of time being a year old and is still the #1 development phone on the market today. Samsung took what the Nexus had and made it appealing to the masses. I mean look at the global sales, it's undeniable. With that being said, I am NOT discrediting the S3 for what it is. It's obviously a great phone, I mean it's basically a steroid infused Nexus Take away Samsung's garbage they added and you have a Nexus. Sorry, I don't care for Samsung's "skins" or their atrocious touchwiz. Gag!

I've rambled far too long. Please don't take offense to what I've said and don't get defensive. Once again, NOT my intentions at all.

Have a Merry Christmas to you, your family and everyone else on Android Forums. My home away from home while sometimes within my home. O_0

Best phone of 2012? Too many variables. Global sales and the S3 is the best phone. Tech advancements and it's global sales and the Note 2 is the best. Innovation and demand goes to the Nexus 4 as the best.

I'll say that the Galaxy S3 - the Galaxy Note 2 - the Nexus 4 are all the best phones of 2012.

You can't choose one because of the variables involved, you just cant. If a gun was to my head and I was told to pick one..............Nexus 4.

nope mine is a huge dissappointment to say the least. No signal and no service more that I have a signal or service, cannot send emails 75% of the time they hang in outbox for hours or days before sending, drops a lot of calls because of the poor signal. Came from a T bolt that at lease I had service and signal with.

I own a One X and I have to say that Samsung really stepped up touchwiz with all their features. So it'd say that the S3 was the best phone in 2012. I still like the design and beats of my One X though.

nope mine is a huge dissappointment to say the least. No signal and no service more that I have a signal or service, cannot send emails 75% of the time they hang in outbox for hours or days before sending, drops a lot of calls because of the poor signal. Came from a T bolt that at lease I had service and signal with.

The GS3 is not only the best Android phone, but it is by far the best smart phone ever. And yes, I do have an iPhone 4S. Some of my friends have the iPhone 5 and it is not that much better than the 4S. Their panorama shot is inferior as compared to my GS3.

I started the year using the htc g2, that phone crashed and died in september and I switch over to a Nokia x2, I checked out several phone models, including the mytouch, samsung galaxy s relay, several htc phones, even a Windows phone, what made me choice the Samsung galaxy s3 was the phone is user friendly , the camera, the screen is very responsive, of all three phones I used this year, the Samsung galaxy s3 has been the best